National report

From Wire Reports

Published Saturday, June 30, 2007

Attorney: Ex-astronaut didn't wear diapers on trip

ORLANDO -- Former astronaut Lisa Nowak didn't wear diapers during her 950-mile road trip to confront a romantic rival, her lawyer said Friday, disputing one of the more bizarre details to emerge from the NASA love triangle.

"The biggest lie in this preposterous tale that has been told is that my client drove from Houston, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, nonstop, wearing a diaper," Donald Lykkebak. The tidbit that Nowak wore diapers during her trip was written in the police report filed after Nowak's arrest in February.

There were toddler-size diapers in her car when she was arrested, but they were several years old, Lykkebak said. Nowak and her family had used them when Houston was evacuated in 2005 during Hurricane Rita, he said.

Consumer spending rises

WASHINGTON -- Consumers boosted their spending in May as their incomes grew solidly, an encouraging sign that high gasoline prices haven't killed people's appetite to buy. Inflation moderated. It was the second month in a row that consumer spending went up 0.5 percent, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

In other economic news, construction spending rose 0.9 percent in May, the biggest gain in nearly 1 years, the department said in a second report. Brisk spending on big government projects and by private builders on commercial construction eclipsed continued weakness in the housing sector.

Woman pleads not guilty in dog registration case

SEATTLE -- The Seattle area grandmother who registered her dog to vote pleaded not guilty Thursday to making false statements on a voter-registration form.

Jane Balogh, who says it's too easy for a voter to register illegally, sought to prove her point by registering one of her dogs, Duncan MacDonald, as a King County absentee voter.

She put her phone in Duncan's name, and that apparently sufficed. Although the Australian shepherd-terrier mix signed each ballot envelope with a picture of a paw print, he didn't vote. Balogh wrote "void" on each ballot. The King County prosecutor's office charged Balogh, 66, with making false or misleading statements to a public servant.

The bus was trying to exit the southbound lanes of I-81 in northeastern Pennsylvania when it crashed through several barriers, crossed the ramp and landed with part of the vehicle hanging off the roadway, according to state police. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

The passengers had been among about 170 people on a flight from Salt Lake City to Newark, N.J., that was diverted to Syracuse, N.Y., because of bad weather Thursday night.